We´ve moved!

Thanks for your patience everyone. After all these problems, we´ve decided to move our blog to a different service. Click anywhere on this post to be redirected. Enjoy the new site!

http://saadventure.wordpress.com/

Technical Difficulties

We are currently experiencing (really frustrating) technical difficulties. Please check back soon. Sorry!

Sipan

(see previous post for more info on our trip down the coast...this is the second half of a post Blogger kept crashing while trying to upload)

Los Tumbes Reales de Señor de Sipan are famous ruins excavated in the late 1980's. While the actual site wasn't that interesting (Look! There's a hole in that pile of dirt!), the museum is amazing. Rumor has it that it is rated as one of the top 10 museums in the world...though I can't figure out who rates things like that and Googleing "top ten museums" brings up a lot of randomness.

The museum is a beautiful example of modernity meeting the ancient. The building itself is designed to mimic a temple. The interesting thing about this museum is that it focuses on the excavation of the site and is set up so that you feel as though you're there on the archeological dig. It presents the process step by step through photos and the restored treasures. They based the full size models in the museum on the physiques of local people who are the genetic descendants of the Señor. Local artisans made the clothes for the models, using traditional production methods.

Visiting the museum was a really cool experience and definitely made the stop in Chiclayo worth it!

The next town we came to was Huanchaco, another surf beach. However, this one is much smaller than Mancora and much more relaxed. It was there that we spent Christmas and New Year's.

Beaches, Museums, and Ruins Oh My!

Here in Lima, everyone keeps asking us if we like Peru. The answer is of course yes, but with a disclaimer. So far we've only seen the northern coast of Peru, so we can't exactly offer up a fully informed opinion.

After leaving Ecuador, we took the Pan American Highway straight down the coast, stopping in only a few towns on our way to Lima. We decided to leave the mountains until later in the trip as right now it's the rainy season...didn't really feel like dealing with landslides and crappy weather. We also decided to book it to Lima in an effort to get the ball rolling on our volunteerism here in Peru.

Our first stop was Mancora, a party beach town with great surfing. We stayed about a week (mainly because of a stomach bug) which was just enough time to enjoy the food, waves, and genearl craziness without being driven crazy ourselves.

Next up was a stop in the not-so-impressive town of Chiclayo. It wasn't that it was a bad place, it's just that it's a normal South American town that isn't trying to impress the tourists. It was especially high on the hustle-and-bustle factor as we were there the week before Christmas and everyone was trying to get their last minute shopping done. Luckily for us, we weren't in Chiclayo to go shopping. We were there to visit the Lord of Sipan. Unfortunatly he has been dead for about 1,900 years so we decided to see his museum instead.

The museum is one of the Top 10 in the world...though according to who I can't say. It was a very cool experience. I have lots to say about it, but everytime I try to write more Blogger crashes on me.

We´re Back!!

After a long absence due to technical difficulties Blogger has been having we are finally able to publish again!!!

We are in Lima, Peru now and have begun working with an organization called Manos Amigas. All is very well and we will catch everyone up on all of our adventures as soon as possible.

By the way... have a very belated happy holidays!

Digital Xmas Present

Greetings from Huanchaco, Peru. We've settled down for the week here in Huanchaco to escape the hoards of xmas shoppers and travelers in the bigger cities. Huanchaco is a smaller fishing village, though many travelers have discovered it. There are very surfable waves here, decent size but great for beginners. Not too far north, Peru host the longest left-hand wave in the world, so I'm sure we'll check that out before we move on as well.

I had planned to post some older pictures with thier blog posts, but for some reason, I'm having some technical dificulties with Blogger and can't log on with my old profile. Not a big deal, except that I can no longer edit my past posts. Oh well, worse things have happened.

As our xmas present to all of you, here are some pictures that I've been wanting to post but haven't been able to yet. Enjoy and have a happy holiday where ever you might be!

Us with all our stuff leaving Canoa:

From Parque Nacional Cajas:

Collecting water off the tent in Cajas during an afternoon storm:

Working at Rumi-Wilco Ecolodge in Vilcabamba:

A 6 hr ride in Vilcabamba...if you look real hard you can see me coming up the mountain!

Desde Perú

With less than two weeks before Christmas, it seems a little odd to be sitting on the beach...but I won´t complain!

We arrived this week in Peru without problems. It was a long 12 hr overnight bus ride, but we made it to Mácora safe and sound, though a bit tired. It is hot, hot, hot here in the infamous surf town but the water is warm and the beach beautiful. It´s an odd place, a tourist town strung out along the PanAmerican highway for a few kms. Everything is imported because it´s in the middle of a desert, so everyday things are not too cheap but the seafood is!

We´ll be here for a few days before moving on towards Lima.